


The Ice Knows No Kindness

by Androgyninja



Series: ATLA Southern Water Tribe Fics [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Character Death, Exile, Molestation, Murder, Southern Water Tribe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:49:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27679649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Androgyninja/pseuds/Androgyninja
Summary: Four times people were shocked by how ruthless the Southern Water Tribe could be.
Series: ATLA Southern Water Tribe Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2034742
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80





	The Ice Knows No Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING. PLEASE READ.
> 
> For the second "time" there is a graphic description of molestation and assault. PLEASE skip that if you are at all sensitive to that kind of content.
> 
> It starts at "Orai knew something was about to go wrong" and ends at "cold and unapologetic."

Kuzon was as filled with excitement as he was nerves.

They had spotted the Water Tribe ship two hours ago and were steadily gaining ground as they chased it. They were close enough now that if he listened hard enough, he could hear the deep voice of one of the savages barking orders.

Not that any plan would help. While there were few fire benders on the ship, the enemy’s boat was made of wood and extremely flammable. If they were smart, they would surrender immediately.

A part of him hoped they didn’t. It would be his first battle and what better way to prove himself than against the savages of the south? Kuzon heard they ate raw meat and lived in houses made of ice. One could hardly consider them human.

After another ten minutes it seemed that the Water Tribe ship had forgone fleeing and now rested still, its crew a formidable sight to witness.

The men were large with wolfskin and blue cloth covering their olive skin. Many of their faces were painted, and their weapons were odd-many a strange mixture of a club and a sword and-was that a boomerang?

Captain Jee stood directly across from the savages and called out in a booming voice. “Water Tribe dissenters! Surrender at once and no harm shall come upon you! Resist and you risk your lives!”

They did try to take enemy combatants alive if possible, they weren’t _monsters._ The coal mines always needed more workers, and the Fire Nation was gracious enough to give those ungrateful men and women a chance at honest work.

The only response they got from the savages was a barrage of glass projectile filled with…some kind of jelly?

It didn’t matter either way-they finally sent out the planks and from there, they started to board.

Kuzon wasn’t an experienced fighter, so he stayed at the back for support.

There was a brief moment of silence as the two opposing forces stared each other down.

And then the Water Tribe men released a blood chilling _howl_ and charged.

It was hard to see through the clashing bodies, but he caught more than one glimpse of blood being spilled and fire being thrown.

Until a spark hit one of the jelly containers, and everything around it was blown to bits.

They were caught off guard, and the Water Tribe pushed their advantage, and it wasn’t long until Kuzon realized something that made his stomach drop to his toes.

_They were losing._

There easily twice as many fallen bodies in red and black than there were in blue, and the fighting was getting far too close for comfort.

He swallowed.

One by one, his comrades fell until he found himself crossing blades with a large, fierce looking man. He was skilled and clearly had far more experience than Kuzon.

_I don’t want to die._ He thought desperately. _I’m only nineteen_.

The savages club struck the side of his head and he went down hard.

The last thing Kuzon ever saw was a pair of ice blue eyes.

…

Orai knew something was about to go wrong the second Jeezuh-the Fire Nation prisoner-began stalking towards where Kustaa-a recent inmate who’d been captured with several other Water Tribe warriors.

The latter just moved into the same cell as Jeezuh, and Orai had immediately despised the glint he’d seen in the older man’s eyes.

There was a reason they did their best to keep the cellmates close in age, and if possible, with one of the others they were captured or taken in with. While it may potentially heighten escape chances, there was less opportunity for something like _this._

Kustaa was currently chained to the wall-punishment for an escape attempt that had happened nearly as soon as he arrived-while Jeezuh was free to roam.

And roam he did.

The large bald man slunk towards Kustaa, a sickening grin on his face.

“Hey there, little boy.” He purred. “Would you like to play with me?”

The Water Tribe warrior who was at most, barely out of his teens, narrowed his eyes, but remained silent.

Jeezuh leaned closer until the were chest to chest. “Because I have a few games I’d like you to partake in.”

And that was about as much as Orai was willing to listen to. He whipped out his keys and shoved them in the lock. “That’s enough.” He snapped.

But the key wouldn’t turn.

He tried again, this time with more force, but there was no doubt about it-someone had tampered with the lock.

Jeezuh let out an ugly laugh. “That won’t work. I just wanted some quality alone time with…Kustaa, was it?”

He proceeded to slide his knee between the other’s thighs.

Orai whipped around. “I need this door broken down. Now!” he snapped, the nearest guards to him racing to get the battering ram.

The Fire Nation prisoner grabbed the boy’s crotch. “You’re nice and still, aren’t you? Real obedient chained up, huh?” He leaned even closer until they were practically sharing breath. “I like that.”

_God fucking damn it._ It made him sick to have to witness this, but there was no chance he was going to turn away. Not until he could make this stop.

Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, and Orai’s brow furrowed. Kustaa looked too calm to be frozen in fear, too aware to be in shock.

The boy moved.

The blow was faster than Orai could follow, but suddenly Jeezuh cried out in pain, staggering backwards.

The younger refused to let him escape. Using what little length he could, Kustaa wrapped the chains that bound his hands around the older man’s throat and planted his foot on the small of his back.

The Water Tribe warrior _pulled._

Despite his smaller frame alluding to weakness, Kustaa held firm as Jeezuh scrambled desperately for air, tugging at the chain as well as his captor’s hands. The restraints didn’t loosen one bit.

It wasn’t long before Jeezuh’s eyes slipped close, his face a bright purple as he slumped into unconsciousness.

But Kustaa still didn’t release him.

It wasn’t until the door had been broken into did the boy unwrap the chains from his fellow prisoner’s throat.

Orai checked Jeezuh’s pulse, already knowing what he would find.

Kustaa’s ice blue eyes bored into him-cold and unapologetic.

…

It was Toph who felt them approach.

Two adult sized people wearing distinctive Fire Nation military shoes were approaching. Sokka, the other person on watch, lightly shook his sister while Toph poked Aang.

The two were awake within seconds, months of being on the run making them light sleepers.

“Scouts.” Sokka said grimly. “If there’s only two of them, that has to be it. They wouldn’t risk attacking us with only two people.”

Katara’s voice is hard. “Fire Nation always sends two scouts.”

There’s an immense weight behind those words that Toph doesn’t want to begin to unpack. Besides, they didn’t have time.

“We should be quiet then, right?” Aang asked in an obnoxiously loud whisper.

Sokka let out a sigh. “Yes. Me and Katara are the quietest ones, so we’ll deal with them. You guys pack up and get Appa moving.”

The two siblings begin creeping towards where the scouts lay, footsteps silent to everyone but Toph. She keeps half of her attention on them while also packing as quickly as possible. The faster they got out of here the better.

There was a small scuffling of feet, before a solid _thunk_ and the noise of water freezing.

“Everything’s ready.” Aang nudged her. “Come on, let’s get on Appa.”

Toph turned, about to hoist herself onto the sky-bison when her blood ran cold.

“Toph?”

She-she had to be wrong. There was no way-but her feet had never led her wrong before.

_So why were there only two human heart beats coming from the trees_.

The light steps of both Katara and Sokka approached them. “What’s the hold up?” The latter questioned.

_They could’ve hid them in the trees._ A part of her argued. _That way the soldiers chasing us wouldn’t immediately find us._

But she would have felt the vibrations, would have heard the rustling of the leaves.

She continues to think of it even after they’re several miles away, even after they’ve set up a new campsite and even after they settle down to sleep once more.

The words leave her mouth before she can think better of them. “Hey Sokka. Give me your boomerang.”

There’s a pause in movement, before some shuffling around. A piece of cold metal is pressed into her palm.

“Why do you want my boomerang?” he questioned.

Toph fights the revulsion that rises within her. “Just curious.” She said simply.

She doesn’t know what’s more chilling; Sokka’s calm attitude, or the smell of copper beneath her nose.

…

The South Pole is just as freezing as it was the last time, and Zuko hasn’t been this grateful to Uncle Iroh for teaching him how to regulate his temperature since his stint in prison.

“Zuko! Over here!”

He turned to see Katara standing near a large igloo, her hands occupied with skinning a fish.

He released a rare smile. “It’s nice to see you again.”

She grinned in response. “You too. I haven’t been able to make it down to visit you lately-we’ve been pretty busy with the trade negotiations with the Northern Tribe.”

“Did they finally allow you in the meetings?” He questioned.

Her eyes light up with a mixture of vicious vindication and triumph. “They sure did. Turns out when you dump several tons of snow on people, they stop thinking you’re weak.”

Zuko shook his head. “You’d think they would have figured that out after you saved the world.”

She sliced the fish neatly in two. “Well, some people are exceptionally stupid.”

He opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted by a blood chilling war cry that causes the hair on the back of his neck to rise and his hands to fall on his swords.

A small procession of four, led by a man Zuko recognises as Katara’s father. On his left side is another familiar face-Bato, and on the right is Sokka. A lone figure is between the two latter men, the only one without face paint or a blade.

“What’s…going on?” he asked, turning back to Katara. “Where are they taking that man?”

He’s surprised to see her lips twisted into a sneer.

“ _Panuk_.” She said his name like a slur. “He’s being exiled.”

Zuko’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Then why are they leading him away from the boats? Isn’t that the only way to get anywhere else from here?”

Katara gave him an odd look. “Of course it is. What does that have to do with _him?_ ”

He paused. “Aren’t…you sending him away to live in another Nation?”

“What? No.” Her eyes darted to the man again, disgust evident. “He’s going to the Deadlands.”

Something felt off about this. “I…think we do things differently in the Fire Nation. I’m not sure I understand what’s going on.”

Katara placed the now filleted fish on a pan above the roaring fire next to her. “Panuk committed an Unforgivable, so he’s being exiled to the Deadlands.”

That…cleared up absolutely nothing.

Seeing his confusion, she elaborated. “When you break a law in the Tribe, one of two things happen. You are either punished-being given the worst jobs for a period of time-or you’re exiled. Most of the time we hold a tribunal to determine what happens, however if you commit an Unforgivable, you’re automatically exiled.”

“…What did Panuk do?”

Katara’s expression sent chills down his spine, her eyes as ruthless as the day she’d threatened him if he betrayed them. “He killed a comrade.” She said coldly. “It was during a hunting trip so he thought he could get away with it.”

That was obviously horrible, and couldn’t stand but-

“Why not put him in prison?” He questioned.

She gave him another odd look. “There are no prisons here. We’re one of the nomadic tribes, so there’s no way we would build and take down a containment center every time we had to move. Besides, it would be a waste of resources.”

Sokka and Bato shoved Panuk forward, forcing him to begin walking.

Zuko didn’t think he was imagining the terror on his face.

“What are the Deadlands?” he asked quietly, watching as the three men slowly disappeared from view.

Katara removed the fish from the pan. “It’s an area with nothing but flat ice for miles. Nothing can survive out there, hence the name.”

“Won’t Panuk just…come back?”

She let out a humorless snort. “Considering the punishment for that is death, I find it unlikely. It’s the chief’s job to do the escort, and his second in command usually goes as well. Sokka’s with them partly because he discovered the crime and partly because it’s a show that Father will one day pass the mantel of leader to him.”

He felt vaguely nauseous. The man he’d seen carried no supplies, and with no way to gather food or resources, he’d be dead before long.

It was clear Katara knew it too.

But she didn’t seem disturbed in the slightest, her frigid blue eyes landing on him as she held out a plate.

“Pickerel?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, hope you're having a good day.
> 
> So before anyone says anything, i want to clarify a few things.
> 
> 1) This was not made in any way to make the Inuit people who the water tribes are based after seem cruel and inhuman-this was just my interpretation of things and i will explain why further below.
> 
> 2) The second short story was not made as a "gay men will assault people younger than them and are all pedophiles." Obviously that's not true and is not the message i was trying to send. The way i was trying to show it was an older prisoner trying to take advantage of a younger one-this prison, or at least that side of the prison was all male, so that disgusting character i came up with preyed on a younger man instead of a woman.
> 
> Okay, here we go.
> 
> Personally, i think the Southern Water Tribe-even more than the north because they have huge houses and shit-would have to be extremely efficient and ruthless to survive. The climate they live in is unforgiving, and seeing as many of the tribes would be nomadic, they couldn't build prisons, and there was no way they were going to let a murderer or a child abuser walk free among them, so they exile them in what is essentially a cold execution. This is not done out of cruelty, but rather necessity and a practicality born from a need to survive.
> 
> For the bit where Sokka and Katara kill those scouts, i imagine that that wasn't their first time doing so. It's mentioned that their Tribe has been raided multiple times over the years, and with all the warriors gone, and the traditions being lowkey sexist, i can see Sokka having to step up to the plate and killing a scout to give his tribe more time to get away from the Fire Nation. And we know Katara is Katara, so there's no way she'd let Sokka do something like that alone. Again, it is ruthlessness born out of survival in a place that kills the weak. Killing those scouts and then hiding the bodies is the best way to give everyone time to get away, because if they left them alive they would be able to point their pursuers where they went, or giving even more incentive for those chasing them to find them. If someone injured your comrade, than you'd want to avenge them. If your comrade goes missing in a notoriously hard to survive environment, you're more likely to assume they were killed by a polar bear or something.
> 
> I'm not condemning or condoning this behavior, merely writing what i find to be a more accurate representation of what might have occurred if ALTA was a little darker. 
> 
> To Katara and Sokka, all that is completely normal, and they don't see a problem with it because that's how they were raised. Toph on the other hand, was raised sheltered, and despite how much of a badass she is, she probably wasn't expecting her two friends who were the mom friend and the joke maker to murder two dudes in cold blood. Zuko as well. For all the shit the Fire Nation pulled, they did have prisons, and from what i could tell there weren't any executions after a battle had taken place.
> 
> For those who didn't realize, the first short story was Hakoda and his band of warriors. The second was just me coming up with OC's and obviously the last two are the Gaang.
> 
> Constructive criticism is welcome, hate will be laughed at and the gay will be strong.
> 
> Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye.


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